Self-Reflection

Throughout the course of my internship I feel that I met the requirements of

ELCC Standard 1.0. To begin, this internship was designed to test the effectiveness of
the after-school program, Rover Club. This program is set in place to help close the gap
between two of our subgroups who were struggling to meet a passing level on state
mandated assessments. Before students began it was decided how the program would
be run and what skills would be taught during this program to ensure student
achievement was being met. As the program began students were given a preassessment to determine their beginning skill levels. Two more assessments were
utilized throughout the course of the program to determine the effectiveness of program
teaching. At the conclusion of this program all information was analyzed to determine if
the program had been effective in meeting student need as well as helping to promote
skills for state assessments. These results were reported to the proper administrators,
and new action is being taken to help guarantee the effectiveness of this program for
the 2015-16 school year.
ELCC Standard two was met through many processes within the internship. The
first step in completing standard two was taking over the Rover Club program. By taking
this program over it meant that I was overseeing student learning, and collaborating with
the principal and other teacher running this program. To ensure that proper student
learning was being met, collaboration occurred between myself and the other teacher to
create lessons that focused on skills that students were lacking in (both reading and
math). Throughout this process assessments were given and analyzed to determine
student need as well as student understanding. Additionally, a computer program known

as i-ready was utilized. This program is designed to meet the needs of students down to
the sub-skill level. It promotes individualized instruction and gives detailed reports of
student understanding and learning.
To ensure that the program ran smoothly I implemented set rules and standards
for students and parents to adhere to. For example, students were to meet at the same
location every Monday and attendance would be taken. Students were then taken to the
proper rooms where snack and instructions would be given. Students would be split by
grade level and taken to their respective stations. When time was called students were
escorted to the next room. Students were attended to at all times. Additionally, parents
were asked to wait in the lobby and students would be brought to them. One issues that
arose was signing out at the end of each program. Parents were not signing their
children out and just taking them before myself or the other teacher could see where
they went. To ensure this mistake did not happen again the results were communicated
and a new plan for dismissal is being proposed.
To ensure that connections were being made between families and teachers,
student assessments and i-ready reports were sent home to parents. Additionally,
teacher surveys were used to determine the effectiveness of this program on student
achievement. To ensure this success of this program in the upcoming years, new
considerations are being taken. One change that is going to be implemented is the use
of creative activities such as art and music to break up the monotonous school day
activities. This can be done by utilizing NEOMED students who are willing to volunteer
their time with children after their days of school have concluded.

I feel that I have met every ELCC standard. Through this internship and action
research process I have found many issues with the after-school program making it
essentially ineffective.To ensure that changes be made I have reported my findings to
the school principal and we are working together to ensure that changes are made for
the 2015-16 school year. Through this study I have gained insight and knowledge that I
can use to properly plan a more appropriate and beneficial program for students who
struggle with grade level material. I have found three themes that are present
throughout my study:
1. The i-ready program is beneficial to student learning and development and should be
a part of the Rover Club curriculum.
2. With only two teachers working on this program students are not having their needs
met during classroom time.
3. Students will not show considerable change in their learning with only one day of
afterschool practice. More time is needed to see significant growth in certain skills.
The i-ready program is a valuable tool in the continuing education of students.
Students work on the i-ready program each school day for 45 minutes, additionally,
students who are in the Rover Club program get further time to work individually as well.
With its differentiated instruction and interactive lessons this program allows students to
work at their own pace as well as engage in grade level material. This program is very
different and acts almost like a video game taking students away from the monotonous
tone of their days. I like this program because students are able to pace themselves and
work on skills that are unique to their individual needs. I have also found that students

enjoy this program because of its unique approach to learning, some lessons allow the
students to play fun and interactive games, while others mimic classroom reading and
math time. Students are working towards achieving one goal that others do not need to
know about. This program slows many of the students down and has them look at the
finer details of the unit. In order for Rover Club to be a successful afterschool program,
the results have shown that i-ready must be a part of its curriculum.
One of the major issues I have found with this program would be the lack of
participation from teachers within the school. While teachers are willing to provide
information, and agree that this program is beneficial to those students in our subgroup,
they are not willing to take the time out to volunteer for this program. Research suggests
that, students tend to be attracted to programs that provide something different from
their school day ( David, 2011, p. 85). Further, Research supports investments in wellconstructed programs focused on subjects that are underemphasized in school, such as
art, music, and hands-on activities (p. 86). Without the support of more teachers, Rover
Club will not be as successful as it should. With only two teachers working on this
program, students are forced to follow a schedule similar to their school day. While this
may work for some, other students tend to zone out or not put forth effort because they
are burned out from the day. With the addition of one or two more teachers students can
have a variety of instructional activities that better promote student learning and
achievement.
Finally, throughout the course of Rover Club the participants only met for two
hours each week for the six weeks. In addition, not all the students who attended the
first session were able to attend the second session. This again, presents a lack of

consistency in the Rover Club program. All studies that I have researched suggest that
afterschool programs that showed significant student achievement and gains in learning
met at least three times a week for extended periods of time. While the Rover Club
program has shown to make some gains in student achievement, not all students are
able to grow in such a short amount of time. If the end result of this program is to have
students pass state mandated testing, then students will need more time participating in
the afterschool program.
I will be proposing that Rover Club restructure its curriculum for the 2015-16
school year. The program needs to be at least two days a week and two session will
need to be held; one in the fall and one in the spring. It must include more teachers to
offer a variety of different instructional activities such as: music, art, homework help, and
i-ready. Offering multiple diverse activities, will entice many of the older students to
participate and put forth more effort and will motivate the younger ones to participate.
Finally, students will still take part in the i-ready, computer based program which will
provide a paced, individualized lesson throughout each session. This student centered
learning is key to the success of the afterschool program and ultimately meeting the
programs end goal; helping students pass state mandated testing. As Tyler points out,
learning takes place through the active behavior of the student; it is through what he
does that he learns, not what the teacher does (1971, p. 63).